I replied that she would have felt those emotions for the first 15 minutes of the river pageant and after that would have felt, well, like a sit down, a cup of stiff tea and a chocolate digestive.

Pride. That’s what Husb reckons is the legacy of the just-gone Jubilee. And he argues that the Queen will have enjoyed every damp, arthritis-inducing minute of it. Even Cheryl Cole’s participation, although I think he’s projecting there. She will, and I quote him directly, “have been filled with an enormous sense of privilege, of warmth and pride”.

I replied that she would have felt those emotions for the first 15 minutes of the river pageant and after that would have felt, well, like a sit down, a cup of stiff tea and a chocolate digestive.

It was just too long, wasn’t it? Four days. Four whole days of Hey-Hey-Jubilee. The four-day party by Royal Appointment served only to introduce the new ailment of Jubilee-angst, pre and during. Which day, for example, do/did you hold your street party? Saturday? Sunday? Do you go into the bank holidays? If you’re munching heartburn food on Saturday but the street next door isn’t whacking its M&S nibbles range in the ovens ’til the next day then that causes neighbourhood disharmony. And what, if, like me, you’re not invited?

And the poor Queen. Freezing on the river. Husband in hospital the next day. And then still two more days of, mmm, festivities to go.

Mam disagrees. She thought it was wonderful although, like thousands others, she’s disgruntled with the BBC coverage. “Wasn’t it awful?” she said. “All those wonderful boats on the Thames and there was Fearne Cotton talking about sickbags. I wanted to know what boat was what, which boat was which, who was on where and why.

“I honestly think I could have given better commentary from my sofa.”

As someone who listened to a good 20 minutes of her commentary (Kate Middleton is gorgeous and classy and dresses very, very well apparently, but as for her sister, well, I don’t know what the fuss is all about. She’s ugly) I think she may be right. Press red for the Mam commentary button.

Poor Beeb though... all those correspondents, all those hours and so much discontent. Early this week, the number of people who’d contacted the BBC to ‘express their displeasure’ was, 2,500 with almost 700 complaints specifically criticising the commentary and presenters. Why the Beeb planners thought a One Show format was the right way of covering the river pageant I don’t know. I’m not even sure the One Show should have the One Show format.

And as for that pink and blue velour-covered set? It looked like a pastiche of a Valleys beauty parlour. Regal? More like 20 Benson & Hedges.

Luckily though, the director-general disagrees, saying that the coverage was “impressive”. Mark Thompson’s back-slapping statement to staff boasted: “Our output has been impressive not only in its scale, but in its ambition, quality and outstanding journalism. By capturing the spectacle of the Thames Pageant and ... ceremonies alongside smaller local celebrations we reflected reaction from up and down the country.”

Oh dear. I am always dismayed when the culture of a business is not self-critical but self-congratulatory. Things can always, ALWAYS, be done better and that sort of ‘never-mind-what-the-punters-think’ attitude cannot be applauded.

As Mark Damazer, the former controller of BBC Radio 4, said of the coverage, “The BBC probably tried too hard.” Yes, like an elderly aunt turning up in sparkly hotpants ’cos she’s heard they’re the latest thing.

If you want whizz-bang, yoof coverage you don’t turn to the Beeb. You expect the Beeb to tell you what boat is what, which is which, who’s who, who’s on where and why (yes, I’m aware it has happened and I am turning into my mother).

Trying to show what ‘fun’ everyone’s having puts you on a hiding to nothing. It’s bad enough to be chewing on a dry sausage roll, wearing Union Jack deely-boppers, without having a correspondent bob up and down in front of you telling the camera what fun you’re having. Like the roll, it just comes across as tasteless.

For me, the best coverage of proceedings was to be found on Twitter. I follow @Queen_UK which is someone who tweets, tongue-in-cheek, in the guise of Her Royal Majesty. Covering the L-O-N-G weekend’s proceedings from Queenie’s point of view, was a mammoth task, and, unlike the BBC, I believe it was done single-handedly. Witty, controversial, provocative and entertaining. It is, I’d argue, very British.

Our Jubilee party consisted of a boozy Sunday lunch on the South Bank and then a push, squeeze, a Wales flag, an argument with a steward, an abandoned buggy to end up with a view of an elderly woman’s pink pac-a-mac. With Almost-Three-Year-Old on my shoulders and Four-And-A-Half-Year-Old on Husb’s, the (tall) boys cheered when the boats went by. My tot cried ’cos she couldn’t see. So I climbed onto a metal mound ignoring the warnings that it was slippery.

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As celebrations marking The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee get underway in earnest, noted Welsh royal biographer Brian Hoey examines the monarch’s enduring legacy –and the seismic social changes her reign has witnessed

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